Wednesday, July 29, 2009

While we were wandering around the outskirts of Walla Walla last weekend, we had to stop at Fort Walla Walla, as this was a place of history in the 1800's. Many Christian Missionaries, and later settlers as well as Calvary Soldiers came and went from the protection of this Fort.

Also at Fort Walla Walla, is the Cemetery of Fort Walla Walla....

To read the headstones, and the information regarding the Indian battles that the soldiers died in, brought the true history of the west alive and real.

Click on the pictures to get a better view of the words on the headstones.

As we walked in, there was an older man sitting in his chair. I asked him if he wasthe caretaker.. he said no, he just liked to come and sit under these "small" trees...

I am a visual learner, and this kind of historylesson works for me... it just makes you wonder about the people, what they were possibly like, and how hard it was to do what they were doing. How they gave it all up, to go somewhere else and make their dreams come true.. and the price they paid to follow their dreams.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Ali at The Blessed Country Mom sponsors some wonderful positive weekly Post challenges..one of which is Thankful Thursday...another fun one is her new Find Me Friday (previously was called Peakaboo Friday).

Today, just before Thursday comes to an end.. I just want to say, I am truly Thankful for Ali. I could say all sorts of wonderful things about Ali, which will all be true. But if you have spent any time visiting her, well you already know.

She lost her beloved Aussie Duke yesterday, and if you go take a look at her site, well it is not hard to see that he was a true family member. As we have talked about on various blogs, there are some pets that are far more than pets, and beyond replacement. Duke was one of those exceptional animals.

So thank you Ali for being who you are, and know many of your blog friends are sending you prayers and love.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Once upon a time, in a far away land was a man who needed a reliable affordable dependable car...so the story starts, or I suppose it is an ongoing continuation...

The other half has a lease vehicle.. we call it a "fleece", if any of you are familiar with Dave Ramsey, and the Total Money Makeover.. you know what I mean!Well, due to the large amount of overage miles he has put on the car.. he has stopped driving it, as there are just a few months left on the lease, and it will be painful when we pay for the overage miles. I think he is at 92,000 miles on a 75,000 mile lease limit, ouch!

It will be the very last lease/fleece we EVER do!

So.. I knew what was coming... as he is a car guy. He loves cars... he loves Auto Trader... and car magazines...he loves Nascar . Yes he is a car guy.For some reason he is drawn towards European cars.. which really are not the practical kind of car he really needs. He puts lots of miles on his cars, which is silly to have a real pricey car and run it into the ground. Plus, well we cannot afford that car!Thank goodness he came to his sense's!

So.. somehow I got sucked into the search for the replacement, to be purchased not leased. Used, not new, and a super duper deal.My brother has a Chevy HHR, which is very cute retro like 'van' and gets great mileage (32-34 on highway) and they are reasonable.

So.. the search was on to find one... and find one we did.We had to take a ferry to get to where it was, which was in Port Angeles on the Peninsula (on the way to Forks for you Twilight folks!). We had a great day driving to Port Angeles, I must say.

We went through Sequim which is a really great little area, and they were just starting their Lavender Festival, the lavender farms are everywhere in that area!

What was cool was that we bought my horse Betsy from a Paint breeder in Sequim, and had not been back there since..well...that was 14 years ago!

I could not believe when we drove by the place she was born. It was like it had never been a horse farm. The fencing was gone, and the barn was all boarded up. The woman who we got her from used to be pretty well known as a horse breeder.

She was older, and may even be gone from this earth.Look at her old covered arena, all boarded up...

OK, so I digressed from my thoughts, not surprised are you!

Back to the car hunt ...OK..they were kind enough to 'SAVE' it for us....do you see, it has a save sign on it!Than of course we have to compare it to the snazzy orange one (I like that color!) no, he says white. OK, so we will take the white one.

Than after doing all the fun signing papers to buy it, and "no we don't want the extended warranty ...blah blah blah" part...

And of course after he bought his starving wife lunch,I follow him back the way we came...which meant a stop in Port Gamble.

Port Gamble is a very cool historical stop ...the original houses and stores are intact and they all have cute white picket fences.

"Most people begin their travels in the Olympic rain shadow with a visit to the company-owned town of Port Gamble. Timber barons from Maine came west in the 1850s and created the town around their mill at the mouth of the Hood Canal. The land grant they got from President Abraham Lincoln in 1853, now on display in the town’s museum, made it official.

While the mill closed in 1995 after stocks of old-growth timber dried up, the current incarnation of Pope Timber Company has turned the town into a tourist destination par excellence. The elegant Victorian houses along the town’s main drag, Rainier Avenue, once housed the managers of the mill and their families, but today play host to a coterie of small shops designed to entice visiting tourists to while away an afternoon browsing. "

OK.. than back on the road to the ferry boat...across the water to the Edmond's ferry dock..

Off we go, heading off the Peninsula... on the "Puyallup"

And and after a brief stop to show the kids....we are finally almost to our little Place in this big world...

Saturday, July 18, 2009

It is the time of year when the raccoons are everywhere, with their little one's following behind... learning the art of sneaking in garages to eat the cat food, or climbing your fruit trees to get those nice juicy cherries or plums...

We have had a problem with them lately... this old thing was chased out of our garage by my boy Randy.. who than treed him..which is where these pictures came from.

Just before bed the other night, Randy started barking like crazy, so I opened the door and both he and Milli went flying out the door... and around in the dark in front of the garage...than I heard him screaming..yes screaming.. I have never heard him make that horrible noise before.

I heard a horrible combination of squealing, growling and dog crying. Oh my gosh, here I am, barefoot and in the dark... and I am thinking my dog is getting killed!

I knew it was a raccoon, and I could hear that little "clicky" noise raccoons make coming from under our partially opened garage door. Yes, she had babies, she wasn't going to leave the babies.I grabbed the closest thing I could find which was a metal barbecue spatula from the nearby barbecue and screamed "Get, Get, You Get!!!"..loud and over and over again.She finally let go of Randy, and ran to the end of the side of the house and spun around.. like she was going to turn on me, and she probably would of, if I had gotten close.. there was no way she was leaving without those babies!

I ran into the house and opened the door to the garage.. there they were 3 raccoon babies peaking out the garage door, waiting for the word from mom.In the end they scampered out, and that door was shut. Poor Delilah the cat will have to wait for the raccoons to move on before she leaves the garage at night.As for Randy, he was chewed up on his back flank with scratch and bite marks. He was shaking, and very upset. I took him to our vet first thing the next morning, and he appears to have escaped with less injuries than it could of been.

Not true for the little Jack Russell that was being picked up at the vet when I picked up Randy. I knew right away it was raccoons for him too. That poor dog was covered on both sides with punctures and cuts. The owner said two raccoons attacked him while they were raiding her cherry tree.

I am sorry..even though they are "cute", I never want to see them in or around my place again!!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I've got nothing...today!Just humming along with work, and life.I have some long extra training days for the next few days at work...ugh!!!

Much like this little hummer... I feel like everything is a quick stop, and than on to the next stop ...no stopping and smelling flowers at the moment... so please forgive me if I don't come visit as I would like...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Fast forward from 2008 to now...

When I started blogging, I was more" general "on my blog topics, and loved blogging.

Later I took a long time off, as my mom's health was deteriorating, and she was my main focus.

In June of 2012 my job of 21 years ended, leading me into a bit earlier retirement then I had planned, which has opened up old doors, to do what I love doing.

I started a new blog "The Pink Geranium" for my love of repurposing, and all things vintage.

In the meantime Jan's Place is here for everything else, my love of photography, my ability to ramble on about nothing in particular...life on our little farm with the critters and family, and to continue to meet and visit new friends and old.

I love your comments, it is how I know you came by and if you follow..well I just plain blush!

Please join my new blog The Pink Geranium, See Above !!

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About Me

A Midwest girl transplanted to the Pacific NW many years ago.
Recently laid off after 21 years in the Communication Industry, so new decorate budget is called thrift!
Married to a great "old" guy, he is a year older then me! We have terrific children (mine and his), 7 wonderful grandchildren, & critters such as dogs, and horses, and a crazy cat named Eleanor.
Now I am going back to a long time love, which is old stuff..and adding it to my world of Blog!
I have 2 blogs, my first being Jan's Place where I ramble about nothing in particular, it is really my Blog home base.
The other one is The Pink Geranium, named after my mom's old consignment store, and dedicated to all things vintage.